Greg Biffle's luck at Fontana in 2004 was awful. In the spring, he broke a transmission after leading a slew of laps. In the fall, a pit mistake and a blown tire cost him a top-five. Credit: Autostock

Sunoco Pit Move of the Week: Fontana

Pit procedural problems have been an issue all year long in 2004, and at Fontana, they reared its ugly head again.

On Lap 28 of the Pop Secret 500, Greg Biffle was running fourth when the caution flew for debris.

Biffle pitted -- thinking pit road was open -- but it wasn't. The cars of Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth saw Biffle dive down pit road, and they followed him.

VIDEO Sunoco Pit Move of the Race A handful of cars pit while Pit Road is closed on Lap 28

As a result, all three cars were penalized for entering pit road when it was closed, and all three had to start at the rear of the field.

Biffle said he had no indication pit road was closed.

"There was no flag out there and he definitely wasn't waving the red flag," Biffle said. "I guess it was my fault. If they weren't open, they weren't open, but there's been some confusion like that in the past. I'm not sure exactly what the deal was."

"I just followed him (Biffle) down in there," said Stewart as he apologized to his crew over the radio. "I didn't even think."

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Biffle fought back and got his car back into the top five, but a cut tire later ended his night.

"It's too bad," Biffle said. "I know we could have finished in the top five here easily."

The penalty was more damaging to Stewart and Kenseth. Already dealing with balky race cars, the pair could never get back to the front. Stewart wound up 18th; Kenseth was 22nd.